1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates electronic equipment, and more particularly to electronic equipment having on its front side an openable and closable front panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Installation of electronic equipment such as an audio device and a navigation device on a vehicle has widely been put into practice.
On the other hand, use of a card-type recording medium having a small size, called a xe2x80x9cmemory cardxe2x80x9d has also recently been generalized.
It has recently become possible to store information, which is to be used in the above-mentioned electronic equipment, in the card-type recording medium, so as to provide information sharing between the electronic equipment and a domestic or personal computer, as well as between a plurality of electronic equipment.
With respect to installation of the above-mentioned card-type recording medium on electronic equipment, a casing of the electronic equipment, which has a stationary front panel 101 as shown in FIG. 9, is embedded into a dashboard of a vehicle. As a result, it is necessary to form a slot-shaped insertion opening 106 into or from which the card-type recording medium is to be loaded or unloaded, on any place of the front panel 101.
It is however necessary to provide parts such as an operating dial 102, operating mode buttons 105, an operation displaying unit 104 and selection buttons 103a and 103b, by which the electronic equipment is caused to function, on the above-mentioned front panel 101. Accordingly, the above-mentioned insertion opening 106 must be formed on a place other than the above-mentioned parts such as the operating dial 102. Formation of the insertion opening 106 is however restricted by design which is made when determining arrangement of the parts such as the operating dial 102 on the front panel 101, thus causing problems.
The insertion opening 106 is exposed on the front panel 101, resulting in an increased possibility that the card-type recording medium loaded into the insertion opening 106 may be stolen, thus also causing problems.
There has also been known electronic equipment, which is to be mounted on a vehicle and has an openable or closable front panel. FIG. 10(a) is a partial side view of typical electronic equipment 200 in which a front panel 201 is opened by swinging the front panel 201 around a pivot shaft 206 provided on the lower side of the front panel 201, while moving forward a supporting member 202 to which the pivot shaft 206 is connected. FIG. 10(b) is a partial side view of the other typical electronic equipment 200 in which a front panel 201 is opened by swinging the front panel 201 around a pivot shaft 206.
In either case, there is adopted a structure that an insertion opening 205 for the card-type recording medium MC is formed on an inner wall 204, which is exposed from the front end opening of the casing of the electronic equipment when the front panel 201 is kept in the opened position (i.e., a state as shown in the lower portions of FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b)), and a connector 203 into which the card-type recording medium MC is to be inserted is further provided in a place corresponding to the insertion opening 205.
However, the card-type recording medium MC, which has an extremely small size, is connected to the connector 203 so as to project from the above-mentioned inner wall 204 by a small length. As a result, it is not easy to pull out the card-type recording medium MC from the insertion opening 205, thus causing a problem, even when the front panel 201 is opened as shown in the lower portions of FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b).
An object of the present invention, which was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, is therefore to provide electronic equipment, which permits to perform easy loading and unloading of a card-type recording medium, reduce the possibility of theft of the card-type recording medium and relieve restriction in design of the front panel.
In order to attain the aforementioned object, the electronic equipment of the first aspect of the present invention comprises:
a main body;
a front panel provided movably between an opened position and a closed position on a front side of the main body; and
a recording medium receiving unit into or from which a card-type recording medium is to be loaded or unloaded,
wherein:
the recording medium receiving unit is concealed and inaccessible in case where the front panel is in the closed position; and
the recording medium receiving unit is displaced along with movement of the front panel so as to be exposed and accessible in case where the front panel is in the opened position.
According to such features of the first aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit is displaced so as to be exposed and accessible when the front panel moves from the closed position to the opened position. It is therefore possible to provide technical effects of achieving the easy loading and unloading of the card-type recording medium, and reducing the possibility of theft of such a medium. It is not necessary to form any insertion hole for the card-type recording medium on the front panel, thus relieving restriction in design of the front panel.
In the second aspect of the present invention, the electronic equipment according to the above-described first aspect of the present invention may further comprises an opening and closing mechanism for moving the front panel from the closed position to the opened position so that a front surface thereof faces generally upward, while pushing forward a lower portion of the front panel and lowering an upper portion thereof, and for returning the front panel from the opened position to the closed position. According to such a feature of the second aspect of the present invention, the front panel is kept in the opened position without exposing the rear surface of the front panel. As a result, no special care of the rear surface of the front panel is needed.
In the third aspect of the present invention, there may be adopted, in the above-described second aspect of the present invention, a structure in which the recording medium receiving unit is slidable relative to the casing; and there is provided a sliding mechanism for sliding the recording medium receiving unit between a retracted and inaccessible position and an extended and accessible position, in a same direction as a moving direction of the lower portion of the front panel in synchronization with movement thereof. According to such features of the third aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit slides to be exposed and accessible when the front panel is moved from the closed position to the opened position. It is therefore possible to carry out more easily a loading or unloading operation of the card-type recording medium.
In the fourth aspect of the present invention, the electric equipment according to the third aspect of the present invention may further comprise a supporting member on which the recoding medium receiving unit is mounted, said supporting member being movable in the same direction as the moving direction of the lower portion of the front panel. According to such a feature of the fourth aspect of the present invention, a stable and smooth slide of the recording medium receiving unit can be ensured.
In the fifth aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit in the above-described second aspect of the present invention may have a slot and be stationarily secured to the front panel so that the slot is exposed outside from a bottom surface of the front panel when the front panel is kept in the opened position. According to such a feature of the fifth aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit moves together with the front panel, thus permitting to making the structure of the electric equipment simpler.
In the sixth aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit in the above-described fifth aspect of the present invention may be placed in an inside of the front panel. According to such a feature of the sixth aspect of the present invention, there can be enhanced the appearance of the slot and its surrounding area of the recording medium receiving unit, when the front panel is kept in the opened position so that the slot thereof is exposed and accessible.
In the seventh aspect of the present invention, there may be adopted, in the above-described first aspect of the present invention, a structure in which the front panel is movable to swing between the closed position and the opened position in which a rear surface of the front panel faces generally upward, around a pivot shaft provided on a lower side of the front panel; and the recording medium receiving unit having a slot is stationarily secured to the front panel so that the slot is exposed outside from a bottom surface of the front panel when the front panel is kept in the opened position. According to such features of the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to make the structure of the electric equipment simpler.
In the eighth aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit in the above-described seventh aspect of the present invention may be mounted on the rear surface of the front panel. According to such a feature of the eighth aspect of the present invention, the further simpler structure of the electric equipment can be ensured.
In the ninth aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit in the above-described eighth aspect of the present invention may be swingable relative to the front panel. According to such a feature of the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to effectively utilize the area of the front panel, permitting use of the recording medium receiving unit having a relatively large size without enlarging the front panel.
In the tenth aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit in the above-described ninth aspect of the present invention may be swingable on a plane parallel to the rear surface of the front panel.
In the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the recording medium receiving unit in the above-described ninth aspect of the present invention may be swingable on a plane perpendicular to the rear surface of the front panel.